Travelling Tallinn-Riga-Istanbul-Abu Dhabi-Melbourne-Brisbane-Maroochydore

After a serious night of packing (see picture below), it was 6.30 am on Wednseday morning when I started my long journey to Aussieland to visit my brother. I arrived at his place finally on Friday evening around 11.30 pm. It was a very long three days.

The first flight to Riga was a short one, the next one to Istanbul a little bit longer, but since the plane was not full it was fine too. When I landed in Istanbul, I had to get my luggage out as the airport staff in Tallinn had recommended doing it in stages. They said that since I had that many transfers, if they put them all on one luggage label, the chances of the suitcase getting lost were quite high. So, they just put one transfer on it til Istanbul and I had to get it out and recheck my baggage the next day. My flight on from Istanbul was 23 hrs and 30 mins later. That gave me quite a lot of time to explore Istanbul.

My friend Özge came to meet me at the airport together with her mother and we took a taxi to my hotel. I checked in and left my luggage there. We then went on to see the Sultanahmet - a big square with mosques and palaces around it. But since it was around 4 pm, we were not allowed in anywhere we tried to get into.

Özge and her mother Fatma

 

I was just about to go into that mosque, but then it was closed for prayer. So we just took a photo in front of it, next to the sign that says that we cannot get in. Actually, as Özge's mother had walked to another part of the complex, we were just taking photos of each other. But then a local guy asked if we wanted to have a photo taken together. I said yes, why not, and gave him the camera. He took the photo and we thanked him and walked off. Özge then told me that I should not be so trusting and give strangers my camera. I was glad my mistake had not been a costly one.

Then we went shopping. I noticed that many of the sellers were men.

It was strange seeing them sell things like bras on the street. They actually asked me to take a photo of them.

People in Turkey are also concerned with swine flu. The sign above that market stand promises that using natural herbs and spices can protect you against swine flu. :)

There were mosques everywhere.

We walked down a 2 km shopping street in the city centre.

It was packed with people. The whole atmosphere was vibrant and full of life.

We were hungry by then and went to a nice hotel restaurant to have our dinner.

We were joined by Özge's fiance, Arin. And that was also where I had my very first proper Turkish coffee with mint liqueur and water. It was lovely!

The next morning Özge and Arin met me at the hotel and took me to the airport. It was strange to see very strict security  - almost like the one I am used to when flying to Israel. All luggage is screened before you get to the check-in desks. And there is an additional hand luggage screening by the gate.

During my flight to Abu Dhabi, I was thinking of what day it was and when I would finally get to Australia. I suddenly realised that it was already Thursday afternoon and there would be no way I would get to Australia on Thursday evening. My tickets had said that my flight would get into Melbourne on the evening of the 7th. And although at one point I had noticed that that was not possible, when I had got my ticket from Melbourne to Brisbane, I had double checked my existing tickets before I booked the flight to Brisbane for the morning of the 8th. I guess, I had trusted the paper at that point and not thought it through again. So, that meant that I had no tickets from Melbourne to Brisbane. I was going to text Priit when I landed, but he had reached the same conclusion and texted me when I was still flying. I got his message together with a phone number for Virgin Blue. But when I phone them, they said that I had lost that ticket and there was nothing they could do.

I was feeling quite stressed at that point, but decided to go and ask Etihad staff whether there was a flight to Brisbane from Abu Dhabi that I could transfer to. When I was at the transfer desk explaining my predicament, I suddenly got a nosebleed. I guess it was from the two days of travelling, dry plane air and stress combined. But as I had taken aspirin for two days to thin my blood, it would not stop bleeding. So, they took me to the clinic. The nurse took my temperature and since I had 37.9 C (100.2F), she said she would need to get the doctor to see if I was fit to travel. At that point, I thought.... here we go.... I'll be stuck here forever now.

I tried to be as composed as possible and very respectful towards the doctor. He could see that I had no swine flu and he gave me some pills for the nosebleed and also some Panadol to take down my temperature and allowed me to fly.

The flight to Melbourne was 14 hours long, and although I was initially concerned about being at the very back of the plane and having a window seat (I prefer isle seats), it soon became clear that I would not be bored. I sat next to a Greek girl who was going to visit her friends in Melbourne, but she spoke very little English. I encouraged her to speak and we had a really good time together.

In Melbourne, I went to the Virgin Blue desk and talked to the man there. He was very understanding and allowed me to fly on my existing ticket. I had to pay a little bit extra as the tickets to that flight were more expensive than the morning ones had been.

I really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at the domestic terminal in Melbourne. Nobody asked for any ID, there was security, but it was not too strict. I am glad they have refused to go with the rest of the world with the obscenely strict rules.

And finally, after three days of travelling, I was in Brisbane. It was just another hour more to Maroochydore, but this time comfortably in my brother's car.

I unpacked and we opened a bottle of wine. Really like this place. :)